Yunho and Changmin went two weeks without seeing each other; with Yunho leaving for Gwangju to visit his family, while Changmin stayed in the city to stay with his family.

They still kept in contact even for that short time, because Changmin was so used to having Yunho around, and Yunho still could never stop his mind from needlessly worrying about how Changmin would be doing. So every night the two of them spoke to each other over the phone, and Changmin would always reassure the leader during those phone calls. He made sure to let Yunho know that he was eating well, how many hours he slept during the previous night, including whether or not he had any nightmares, and how much he talked to his family.

Of course those phone calls weren't complete without Changmin demanding the same information from Yunho's end. Was the leader eating okay? Was he taking care of himself? Had he been sleeping okay? Changmin also reminded Yunho every time that there was no reason to be afraid, because everyone is safe now; because he knew every sound Yunho heard at night, every door opening, every footstep, every drop of an item on the floor, would send Yunho into a slight fit of panic before he remembered that everything was okay.

Yunho never shared that information with him, of course. But Changmin just always knew because that was the way Yunho was.

And also because Changmin had those same fears too.

He was still having nightmares, despite the fact that he knew he no longer had to worry about Jinsuk ever coming for him again. But sometimes that simple fact didn't help. At night he would hear footsteps, causing him to jump awake and curl further underneath his blanket. He'd hear someone opening a door, causing a thin line of sweat to form on his forehead.

The worst instance was when he woke up to a hand caressing his face. Before Changmin could think about anything, he violently reached his hand out, slapping the offender. But when his vision started to clear and his mind started to make sense of everything, he gasped, suddenly feeling sick as he realized that he had just slapped his own mother.

It seemed like hours before Changmin finally stopped screaming.

Two weeks later, Yunho had to come back to Seoul after an offer for an apartment had been sent his way.

There was no way either of them were ever going back to their old apartment, even though they both loved that one deeply. The memories in that one hurt too much. Even though he wasn't there to witness Changmin and Kyuhyun's torture, Yunho could still picture it in his head anytime a reminder from that place came up.

It was drove him crazy.

And once Yunho had taken a look at the new apartment, he went to go pay the Shim family a surprise visit.

Changmin's father opened the door, immediately welcoming Yunho and inviting him inside. Changmin's mother came up behind her husband, her eyes brightening as she pulled Yunho into a hug.

"Where are the kids?" Mr. Shim asked his wife. Yunho tried not to laugh at the fact that Mr. Shim still called three full grown adults "kids", but he was pretty sure his parents did the same thing to him and his sister when they weren't around.

Mrs. Shim smiled, raising a finger to point upstairs.

Everyone was silent as they listened closely before they finally heard it.

"Ah, Jiyeon! Not so hard!"

Yunho laughed softly, though still confused as to what was going on. That was obviously Changmin that yelled that, and Yunho couldn't help but think that whatever the maknae was doing, it was a losing battle.

"Sooyeon, I ran out of shampoo!"

"Jiyeon, where are the scissors?"

"They're doing Changmin's hair?" Yunho guessed with a laugh.

"For the past hour," Mr. Shim muttered in answer.

"I guess it's best we don't disturb them," Yunho replied.

"How are you doing, Yunho?" Mrs. Shim asked as she led him into the living room before everyone sat down on the couches. "Are you hungry? I'm making dinner for the family. You should join us."

Yunho couldn't say no to the older woman's offer. "I would love to," he replied. 

"How are your parents?" Mr. Shim asked. "Good?"

Yunho nodded. "We were all happy to see each other," he said with a smile. "It was really nice being at home." It was nice being taken care of. Yunho didn't want to seem selfish, but it really did feel good to not have anyone to take care of, even if it was just two weeks. Instead, everyone around was taking care of him. He didn't mind taking care of Changmin, he never did, but it was hard to deny how tiring that was. Yunho knew Changmin cared about him as well, but with Changmin's current state, it was practically impossible for him to do anything for Yunho. Yunho had to carry both his own weight and Changmin's, and it was really exhausting.

Anyone could understand Yunho's sentiments, but he still felt guilty for letting those thoughts come to his mind.

"Changmin told us that your family seems to be spoiling you," Mr. Shim pointed out, breaking Yunho from his thoughts.

Yunho smiled. "Mom cooked too much, Dad kept offering to get me everything, I didn't have to lift a finger. And honestly, my sister has never been that nice to me before."

"They were just happy to see you," Mrs. Shim reasoned, smiling brightly. "In all honesty I've been spoiling Changmin too."

Mr Shim scoffed. "She's been spoiling Changmin his whole life," he muttered. "This isn't anything new."

Yunho nodded in agreement. "That brat expects everyone to do everything for him," he joked. "He thinks he's a prince or something."

"Of course he's a prince," Mrs. Shim said with a laugh. "He's my prince."

Mr. Shim rolled his eyes. Yunho held in a laugh. Being with Changmin's parents surely reminded him where Changmin got his attitude from.

"Keep rolling your eyes," Mrs. Shim said to her husband. "I guess that will just be one less person I have to cook for today."

Yunho snickered, finding it harder and harder to hold his laughter in. Maybe Changmin got his traits from both his parents.

Jiyeon came running down the stairs. "We're done!" she announced, happily throwing her hands in the air. "Now Changmin looks decent." She paused when she finally noticed Yunho sitting on the couch. "Oh," she said in surprise. "Hey."

Yunho smiled. That was her idea of a formal greeting; just like Changmin. "Hey," he said in reply.

"I didn't know you came," Jiyeon replied. "I'll go get Changmin. He'll be happy to see you," she said, quickly making her way up the stairs.

"You coming over will do Changmin a lot of good," Mrs. Shim said to Yunho. "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for him...for our family." The older woman smiled. "You went through so much with him. I'm glad Changmin has a friend like you."

Yunho looked away, suddenly feeling nervous. "Really, there's no need to thank me," he said, shaking his head. "Taking care of Changmin is never a problem. He's done so much for me over the years. It's only natural that I should take care of him."

"Yeah. I guess all the times you forced your terrible cooking down my throat was all well intentioned."

Everyone turned to the direction